Generic Car Comparison – Hot Hatches: Golf GTI vs Focus ST vs Civic Type R

By Martin Pretorius

More than 40 years ago, Volkswagen stumbled upon a winning recipe: by stuffing an unfeasibly powerful (for its time) engine into their compact hatchback and tweaking the suspension, they created a legend. Now well into its seventh generation, the Golf GTI has grown in power, size and sophistication through the years – and acquired a whole brace of challengers as well. How do these opponents compare to the car which is still widely recognised as the benchmark in its class?

We've selected two competitors for this comparison: one of them (the Ford Focus ST) is conceptually very close to the Golf, while the other is a highly-tweaked, and very high-tech, derivative of the Honda Civic. And, while their price tags span a wide range, they represent the current state of the hot hatch art in our market. For what it's worth, they're all powered by 2-litre turbo-charged engines and send their power to the front wheels, but in all other respects, they couldn't be more different...

	Focus ST3	VW Golf GTI	Civic Type R
Engine size (cyl/size)	4-cyl, 2.-litre, turbo-petrol	4-cyl, 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol	4-cyl, 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol
Power/Torque	184 kW/360 Nm	169 kW/350 Nm	228 kW/400 Nm
Kerb Weight	1 437 kg	1 298 kg	1 356 kg
Length (mm)	4 362	4 268	4 557
Wheelbase (mm)	2 648	2 626	2 699
Airbag count	6	7	6
Ave Consumption *	6.8 ℓ/100 km	6.4 ℓ/100 km	8.4 ℓ/100 km
Warranty	4 yr/120 000 km	3 yr/120 000 km	5 yr/200 000 km
Price	R 501 100	R 548 600	R 635 500

*Manufacturer's official figures.

Analysis

At first glance, it would seem like the GTI is vastly outclassed in this company, because it has the least power and torque at its disposal. The numbers tell only part of the story, however, as it (barely) beats the Focus ST in the 0-100 km/h sprint, with its quoted time of 6.4 seconds as compared to the Ford's 6.5 seconds. However, the much more powerful Honda scores its first win here, with a claimed sprint time of only 5.8 seconds. The Type R also runs away at the top end, with a claimed maximum speed of 274 km/h as opposed to the “mere” 248 km/h of the other two.

Why is the Golf just about as rapid as the Focus, in spite of having significantly less power? There are two reasons, of which the first is weight: the GTI is 135 kg lighter than the ST. Furthermore, the GTI uses Volkswagen's quick-shifting DSG transmission, which minimises the time taken to change gears and ensures repeatable results with robotic efficiency. But while these advantages come in handy when challenging a Focus ST, it's still not enough in the face of the Civic's brutal power advantage. On sheer performance, the Civic has to win this comparison.

But a hot hatch isn't just about speed, although it does play a big part. The Golf has a decisive edge over the other two when it comes to refinement and sophistication: the Focus is much noisier and rather raw, while the Civic is really quite un-civil in all respects from cabin noise to ride quality. This is reflected in their appearances as well: the GTI looks like a Golf with different wheels and bumpers, the Focus sports angry air intakes and prominent spoilers, and the Civic bulges at the seams with spoilers and splitters and air vents and lots of fussy detailing. Subtlety isn't this Honda’s game, while the Golf majors on it and the Focus takes up the middle ground.

But while the Type R claims the speed crown and the GTI the title of most usable hot hatch, the Focus claws back its advantage with sheer value. Sure, half a million Rand is still a lot of money, but it undercuts the GTI by almost 10%, and seems like a bargain when compared to the R134 000-dearer Civic. It's quite well-equipped in ST3 guise as well, and loses very little to the GTI on the specification sheet. It comes with proper Recaro seats and keyless entry, although the Civic at least includes standard navigation into its much higher price.

In the end, they're very different cars even though they compete in the same market segment. The Civic is easily the best-handling FWD hatchback on the market right now, and its storming performance really puts it in a different class altogether – a fact reflected in its elevated list price. Meanwhile, the Focus is a high-value but rowdy throwback to an era when hot hatches challenged their drivers and rewarded good car control skills. And the GTI? It just quietly goes about its business of being both rapid and refined. It's the smooth operator, albeit one which emits the occasional “vrrrr-pha”. Oh yes, buyers are indeed spoiled for choice.